It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection - Voltaire
Whether you believe in the existence of the soul or not, I guarantee that at some point or other in your life situations will arise that will automatically ignite the spark of curiosity in this fascinating subject. Then, like me , you too will have many many questions and perhaps begin your own journey towards some sort of enlightenment and better understanding of something whose existence cannot be proven scientifically , yet has had an enormous part to play in many cultures for thousands of years .
For most people, it's when they first experience a death that they begin to wonder that maybe being "alive" is more than just having a pulse. When we witness a loved one pass away, there is a real sense of energy leaving the body, as though the very “essence” of who they were has left them leaving behind an empty shell. It’s more than just organs shutting down and a heart that ceases to beat. The energy that kept that body alive is there one second and gone the next. Is that energy the soul? It’s this energy, or life force that led me to start asking the soul questions a long time ago.
Let’s go right back to the start, before we’re born. According to some of the books I’ve read, the soul enters the body of the unborn baby at around the age of about four months. While some more complicated theories on “sole migration” lead us to believe that the sole can be transferred through many life forms with its ultimate goal being that of the human form, I am more inclined to consider the plausibility of human souls entering human bodies over and over again. This being the case, the type of body and the circumstances into which we are born are then determined by the conduct of the soul in its previous human experience.
By the time the baby is born, it has no recollection of this past however it does have some personality traits and tendencies that are “carried over” with the soul. Regardless of the environment in which they are raised and the influences they have exerted on them, even small children will often show attitudes that are all of their own and peculiar to them.Could these be unresolved issues from a past soul existence that need to be worked through in order to learn and heal?
In his book Soul to Soul, Gary Zukav describes the human experience as the time we spend in the “Earth school.” He suggests that prior to each birth we return home to a non-physical reality where we examine the parts of our soul that require work in order to become what we are all ultimately attempting to become and that is someone capable of being wise and compassionate in every challenge. Zukav goes on to say that we are ultimately aiming to create “a life of harmony, cooperation, sharing and reverence for life which is a life of meaning and joy.” Until this is accomplished, the soul must keep returning to a human existence. We therefore chose to return to another life making that choice ourselves. WE choose the family, WE choose the life, WE choose the circumstances and WE chose who we are!
I found this idea very interesting indeed, as it suggests that we are in fact answerable to ourselves for our conduct. It suggests that there is no heaven or hell, no judge or jury, we do all that ourselves. This actually makes perfect sense – after all, you can’t lie to yourself! So ultimately we create our own Karma through our own deeds. If we create joy we experience joy. When we create suffering we experience suffering. It’s just like looking in a mirror; I will only SEE the reflection of the expression I pull. Therefore Zukav, like many other writers on this subject, advocates focusing our attention on the choices we make along the way during our time here on the Earth school, rather than focusing on the things we do as being right or wrong because there is no right or wrong – things just are what they are. Also, by seeing ourselves as souls then we are better able to grasp the concept of being immortal, powerful, creative, compassionate and loving spirits who enter each life to learn specific lessons in order to heal and one day return home to the non-physical reality forever.
Another very interesting book by Dr Brian Weiss (author of Many Lives Many Masters) called Only Love Is Real, talks of the relationships between souls and soul recognition. The book examines the “account” that often exists between souls that spans many life times. This relationship could be a loving positive one or a destructive one. Either way, there is usually an instant recognition of the soul when they appear in your life, even if you have never met the person before in the flesh. Haven’t you ever met someone for the first time and felt like you’ve always known them, even before speaking to them? Only Love Is Real – explores the idea of soul mates and people who are bonded by love for eternity and are together life time after life time. Gary Zukav describes every individual in the Earth school as a soul mate. Even a total stranger who says a kind word or helps us in the street has a contribution to make in illuminating unhealed parts in us so that we can heal them. Brian Weiss on the other hand, suggests that there are more intimate links between specific souls and that these links remain beyond time and are forged out of love.
Do we have souls? Have we been here many times before? Are the people we love our souls mates? So many questions, and no way of being absolutely sure of any of the answers. Physics tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed – we have to accept that. So, if the energy in a body is a soul - where does that soul’s energy come from in the first place?
My theory is we are all souls, energy call it what you will, all here to learn through our mistakes and experiences to ultimately make some sort of peace with ourselves and thereby reach a state of bliss. Some of us succeed, some of us spend our whole lives trying, but as long as we find our own happiness along the way it really doesn’t matter. As for the source of our energy, well that one’s easy – it all comes from out there from the stars, the galaxies and the cosmos itself. We are woven into the Universe itself, a part of its fabric and in turn all a part of each other.
